Niseko might be mad popular but the snow really is fantastic. You can just see by how consistent it is - it's relentless. Being so good though does mean that it gets super busy - and many complain about it not being very "Japan". If you're all about the snow though, I would highly recommend at least one visit

Final day of a week in Hokkaido with my sons. This was my 2nd time to Rusutsu and it again did not disappoint. The snow depth seemed a bit less than Niseko but was still fun. My boys liked it a lot as well. Best part is skiing the trees then dumping out on to a groomer to get back to a lift - no hiking required

We day tripped from Niseko, signed up for the off-piste "no hike" side country area, then waded through thigh deep snow in the trees. The snow seemed a slight bit heavy which made it difficult to move downhill at times since the terrain was not very steep. It was bitterly cold as well with wind so we had to warm up every few runs. I would like to catch a rare good weather day following snow which

Day 3 of son trip (took a down day in Sapporo...check out the beer museum).

We bought the Hanazono only pass and were not disappointed. Similar to my previous Niseko trip, I don't think we saw the sun. The snow would let up a bit, then start again. Tracks on groomers would fill in after a few hours. All that is fine - we came for powder. We did laps under the upper quad chair, and when the

Day 2 of my sons and my Hokkaido week. We day tripped from Furano in some blustery conditions but while skiing it was mainly gray overcast. We did the arm band thing which grants us the OK to ski off piste (unless that was Kiroro?). We didn't have new snow so skiing was just so-so. Plus, off-piste wasn't readily available other than in the trees at the resort boundary (where we maybe weren't supposed to go). My sons

Me and my boys thoroughly enjoyed our morning off-piste run to the far right (skiers view) with some amazing powder turns in unexpected sunshine. However, we had a long run-out that included a short uphill step by a dam so we didn't repeat the run. The rest of the day was spent looking for powder with limited success as it seemed to be skied out. The lift infrastructure overall seemed decent. We only did one day which

The resort is convenient to Sapporo, public transport is subway to Maruyama-Koen (Tozai Line) & then #14 bus from the bus terminal adjacent to the subway station. The bus stops across the road from stairs leading to the Resort base.

The resort was relatively busy on my visit, up to 10 minutes waiting in the lift line. A lot of the trails are winding ones that children's ski classes take. The open slopes are quick runs back to the base,

The steeper slops are short and ending always with an flat sections. So you have to speed up, that you get over the flat section. The same is with the free-riding area.... Really short steep beginning ended up with a flat section.

The resort is good for beginners, but not for freeriders from overseas looking for steeper terrain... sorry, but for us it was a waste of time & money and the advertising the resort does is delusory

After 2 days at Niseko I took one of the buses to Rusutsu to give that a go (bus transfer is easy from the transportation hub with two different outfits). The area base is kind of different since a smallish set of runs is at the resort/hotel base, but the better skiing is on the adjacent mountain which you ride a gondola to access, and then a chair or two to get where you want to go.

I can't say enough good things about Niseko United, and specifically the Annupuri side. I've been riding in Japan for three seasons and I've never experienced anything quite like this. We spent a half a day on the Grand Hirafu side and then went over to Annupuri and never looked back.

Grand Hirafu was slightly crowded; not terrible, for the time of year, but crowded nonetheless. Annupuri was basically empty. No wait time for the lifts, no congestion on the runs,

We were lucky to have very light snowfall during our visit there in March (-4 cm per day), but it wasn't enough to refresh the slopes overnight. Snow was also icy instead of powder, but we were there in Spring, so even having snowfall was a fortunate blessing indeed.

I am a beginner skier, so kept mainly to the green slopes such as Kogen & Family. With the snow conditions as it was, it was a challenge to me but it